For those who have followed the recent yet storied history of Diebold in North Carolina, The BRAD BLOG has just received word that there has been yet one more late-breaking twist! We can now confirm that, in fact, Diebold is removing their company from contention for the lucrative election systems contracts in the state in light of a state law which requires Voting Machine Companies to submit their full source-code to the state for inspection. At least for now.

A letter just obtained by The BRAD BLOG, sent from Diebold to the NC State Board of Elections, confirms that indeed, the company which had previously fought a state law requiring the submission and inspection of their voting equipment's software source code has decided they'd rather quit than fight, and is withdrawing their bid to contract with the state of NC for the time being, pending their ability to convince NC to change their laws!

According to the letter, dated Dec. 20th, 2005 and sent by a Diebold attorney to NC's State Board of Elections Executive Directory, Gary Bartlett, Diebold has decided they cannot comply with the current state law requiring full source code submission. The letter claims that Diebold is prepared to submit their own source code, but not that of third parties which is used by Diebold in their voting systems, including Operating System software and pre-packaged third-party tools.

Diebold, however, in the letter written by attorney Charles R. Owen, and apparently sent via Email on Diebold stationery, says that Diebold "is prepared to work closely with the North Carolina State Board of Elections ('SBE') in drafting a modification" to the law which they contend neither they nor other vendors can meet. It goes on to say that such a modification to the state law would be one "that meets the true intent of the legislature while at the same time imposing reasonable requirements on all vendors that are capable of being met."

Owen adds, however, that they will be "unable to comply with the deadlines imposed by the SBE in addition to the requirements of state law."

John Gideon, of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA, as well as a frequent Guest Blogger here at BRAD BLOG, received word of this decision not long ago via an email sent from a source in NC:

I have just got the official word. Diebold withdrew from NC today because their CEO would not sign the document making him criminally liable for disclosing the source code.

This is what I was talking about in my post yesterday, but I couldn't be too specific.

Thank GOD! We did it. This has been one hell of a battle.

The email was a follow up to word Gideon received late last night from the source who was reportedly waiting to get "the official word" on the matter.

The back and forth between Diebold, North Carolina, and Election Integrity advocates has been an intense roller-coaster ride over the last several weeks as reported in several BRAD BLOG stories which followed all the various ups and downs.

Several weeks ago, Diebold had attempted to receive an exemption from the state court for submitting their complete source code into escrow. They were denied that exemption by the court and announced that they would therefore be unable to do business with North Carolina. Just a day or so later, the state announced they were going to go ahead and certify Diebold anyway based on a partial submission of source code even though that appeared to violate state law. That became known as the "Immaculate Certification" since it came just a day or so after the Ohio-based company had said they'd submit some of their source code to the state after all. Election integrity advocates had argued that their was no way the state could have complied with state law for inspection of the code in the short between the company's submission, and the states certification. The decision to certify at that point, was apparently led by the former Diebold employee, Keith Long, who had recently left the company to join North Carolina's commission advising the State Board of Elections.

Several days later then, a lawsuit was filed by NC citizen, Joyce McCloy, to challenge the state's decision to certify Diebold, contending that it was done against state law. And now, apparently, even Diebold agrees.

North Carolina passed their new, tougher state elections laws, after at least 4,500 votes were entirely lost in Carteret County on a single electronic voting machine made by UniLect, Inc. during the 2004 Presidential Election.

Where things will go from here, we can only guess. But, as ever, we will do our best to stay on top of the story as it moves forward...or backwards...or sideways...as the case, when dealing with Diebold...may eventually be...

I'm telling everyone in my state about you, you're on the WRONG side of the law now. Its been exposed your little precious memory cards and election fraud scam......I WON'T STOP UNTIL YOU'RE CONVICTED!!!!!!!

If you threaten anybody with lawsuits or harm to their family, I swear I will report it to the FBI. You bastards DESERVE this, fascist neocon scum. You deserve to be torn apart in COURT or come defend the fact each and every test has proven your software is a TROJAN HORSE for fraud!!!!!

By the way, the avalanche is here and now EVERY county I hope soon to add to that- Salt Lake County will be rejecting your bastardized version of democracy.....

Black Box Voting is starting to reveal the inside story about what went on in Volusia County, and has started to post the copies of the original voting machine polling tapes.

I understand that these tapes show many anomalies--many which seem at first to be insignificant--which set of a sequence of events that led to the recent Hursti hack demonstrated in Leon County. I understand that some of these tapes also have significant irregularities in the signatures.

I just looked at the first of the poll tapes from Volusia County Florida. BBV is indicating the anomalies on each of the scanned tapes. It is very interesting to see how such subtle irregularities eventually led to major discoveries such as the memory card hack. This was painstaking detective work at its best.

Now it's clear why all these records had to be kept secret for such a long time. It was crucial that no other place where public records were being requested would get wind of what they were looking for.

After reading the consumer report, I was considering going to the pawnshop buying a few metal baseball bats (even asking if anyone wanted to come along!) and going to local election supervisors office asking where the new Diebold voting machines are. Run through security and then bash them all to pieces with baseball bats!!!!

Let the bastards try to come after me, and then after having the criminal charges thrown out, going to my friend's law firm and filing a formal lawsuit of state charges against them.

But for now, I'm thinking of you know just telling the legislature & governor what I know and to dump the machines

One provision of the NC law is that political parties have access to the source code, able to hire up to three programmers at a time to go over it.

NC has very strict ballot access rules, such that the only political parties who would have access are the Democrats and Republicans. But this is being challenged in court by the Libertarians, Greens and one other, I forget which.

They are citing the fact that being on the ballot doesn't just affect voting, but also various "party privileges" specifically including the right to scope out voting machines and source code, the right to monitor elections more closely than the public can, etc.

In other words, the minor parties were already scrambling to do the court fight needed to score Diebold's source code and their odds of winning look pretty good.

Meanwhile, if the Dems and GOP do NOT do voting system source code review, it will be an additional point of pressure in the courts in favor of minor party ballot access, which the major parties might not want.

So odds are, sooner or later the escrowed source code is going to be independently analyzed and the results published, if not the source code itself.

That just might have been a factor in Diebold's decision.

----------

The Volusia tapes are important. I can't say more just yet...but trust me, this pot will take a bit to cook but is going to produce one damned interesting stew.

If Diebold (and even Sequoia) uses interpreter based code is that a legal violation? Or is it the fact they have .abo executable files which can be used on any memory cards?

I would think vendors would not be allowed to provide their own interpreter code for counting of the votes....it would make it seem like someone was "allowing" additional code which is often malicious that doesn't belong there...

Further I got questions about the zero reports..Why does the "zero reports" not show up on any of the poll tapes you released so far on PDF? Is the zero report something seperate? And why is there repeatedly parts on the poll tapes that say "blank votes" or blacked out anyway....

I can see why no one wanted the poll tapes released until now...this proves literally everything about the memory card hack (.abo executable?) is true and may have costed not just Kerry but multiple people the election in Florida....it looks like there may even be state auditor races affected, and these are republicans too. I'm seeing a strange pattern with these "Nov 2" results for almost half of the races starting to emerge.

Doug E #7 - The discussion about interpreter code is a bit beyond my knowledge range. There is discussion on a mailing list between some of the heavies and that discussion is way over my head. Hey! And I'm 6'7.

As to the fact that Diebold is using the 3rd party excuse, they seem to have forgotten that they escrowed the WindowsCE code in Georgia. If they could do it in Georgia why not in NC? Probably because Diebold has much more control in Georgia is my guess.

John, there IS a difference between WinCE and any other Windows variant.

The code to WinCE is actually viewable by the public and by every hardware developer for it. It's an unusual Windows variant in that it's not finished, it needs to be finalized for whatever weird hardware it's tuned for.

WinCE is a low-cost variant of Windows meant for "palmtop devices", specialized systems and whatnot, where the exact hardware specs are wide open compared to the somewhat standard PC platform. So WinCE is really a "kit"...and one that Diebold had to heavily customize to get it to work on the touchscreen terminals.

That customization in turn meant it couldn't be passed off as "commercial off the shelf" ("COTS") within the meaning of the FEC guidelines and the test labs - but Diebold DID pass it off as COTS anyways for years. Bev and I first pointed that out in 2003:

Anyways. It's easier for Diebold to get WinCE source code to escrow than the Win2k they use on the GEMS box. But as was pointed out, the issues are identical in Georgia and the problem is solvable anyways.

The difference between Georgia and North Carolina is that NC gives the parties access, and that is likely to expand beyond just GOP and Dems fairly soon as the LP/Green lawsuit appears to be on solid ground...

Everyone here has big brother spying on them anyway, and reading everything we say. These conversations are certainly not private and the neocons have the false canard of this being done for "national security reasons"

So I want to go right for the throught on this-- Does Diebold's actions with the source code constitute an illegal violation? Is this why they pulled out rather than NC get the source code into escrow?

Clearly the code, part of it is windows CE but the other is all interpreter code. And that interpreter code can hide MALICIOUS PROGRAMS, and if Diebold is a neocon vote company which is what it appears to be, than the programmers at the top put this code in there on purpose.

And if that is perfectly clear, can the company be hit with a RICO and can damages be sought for any of the counties who may have suffered "losses" not just election wise but civil rights wise....as a result of Diebold's own machines and their friends in Sequoia.

First of all, I must say thanks to David Allen of High Point NC, www.blackboxvoting.com for his huge contribution to getting NC's law written and passed.
He was the first expert to come to our aid in NC, and he served for 3 months on NC's legislative study committee on e-voting, and also on panel presentations across the state to educate the public.

He wrote up some of the key parts of the law that scared Diebold so badly. Also, some thanks goes to Andy Stephenson, (rest in peace) who gave me help early in the battle when needed. Voters Unite, Vote Trust USA and Verified Voting have always been there when we needed them.

Here is my update, I had to think about today's events, read some more articles, get a grip on what happened today.

I am now guardedly optimistic, based on announcements by North Carolina's State Board of Elections that "We're just going to go forward,"

But we heard that it is much more than that - Diebold's biggest fear was to sign off on a document that whatever source code was in escrow would be the source code on the machines sold to the counties.

Well, we have really weakened Diebold in NC, because our most recent accounting from activists was that only about 10 really small counties (out of 100) were considering Diebold, and we were working to change their minds before it was too late.

We have folks in at least half of the state, and some work more than one county, plus we have regional coordinators.

We just won the NO to Diebold, Yes to Optical Scan battle in my home county (Forsyth) earlier today, at about 12:00 Noon.
This was several hours before Diebold's announcement that they were "pulling out".
This county victory might not have been accomplished except for the help of a former county BOE member who incidentally is a republican and some sort of computer expert. This gentleman was able to persuade our County Commissioners to accept the BOE's recommendation, No to Diebold, Yes to Optical scan.
(The Election Director had threatened to resign if Diebold wasn't chosen, )

Keeping Diebold out of these big counties really helped us, since this took away alot of their leverage.

On the way out the door, Diebold offered to "help" our State Board of Elections to revise our legislation so that ALL VENDORS CAN COMPLY, since after all we know that Diebold respects the law so much, right?

Luckily for us, it sounds like the State board of Elections has declined Diebold's offer to change our law, apparently:
"We're just going to go forward," state elections director Gary Bartlett said.http://www.the-dispatch....12221028&cachetime=5

Even one NC county GOP chair complained about Diebold, questioning why our SBOE appeared to be favoring Diebold because of a lobbyist. (Another time a republican helps us). Read the Warren County NC GOP chair's letter to his local newspaper: "Dont Buy Diebold"http://www.hendersondisp...7/news/letters/let02.txt

His reference to (SBOE chairman) Leake and Diebold can apparently be traced back this article, which says that Leake and Diebold lobbyist Steve Metcalf (former state senator) have a long-standing friendship.http://www.northcarolina...art_from=&ucat=&

With a track record like Diebold's, why the heck would anyone buy them?

The State Parties will be looking for experts to review the source code of NC's next voting machines, and you know we have some great computer scientists in this state. The Libertarians were decertified as a party, or they would have helped, but the dems are going to get behind this effort, and I think maybe the republicans will too.
Maybe we in NC can work to get Libs back on the ballot, they have been our allies all along.

Lessons learned:
Take your friends where you get them,
and
Democracy requires continuous vigilance

I was architect on a Windows CE program for the USPO not so long ago. I discovered that the version the company was using did not have C++ exception handling. Even tho it could be coded as if it did. The exception handling did nothing.

We were using the MicroSoft C++ compiler system designed for Windows CE. For those who are interested, an exception handling system in C++ uses "try" "catch" blocks to recover from fatal errors, such as running out of memory or disk space.

The Exception Handling logic and mechanism gives a programmer control at the point of the fatal error, and a way out of the problem (besides wearing out the CTRL ALT DELETE keys). It is especially important in "unattended" scenarios where operation must go on 24/7 and there are no humans around to solve problems. Like a robot rover on the planet Mars or Venus.

For instance if the disk becomes full, insuring a fatal error or another loss of control, the exception handling would allow the programmer, for example, to search and delete unnecessary files to make more disk space before proceeding. Etc.

So I had to write an exception handling mechanism too. What a burden to throw in on a project.

I would not want any voting machine system to use a weak operating system like I had to on that project. And talk about being hackable ... don't get me started ...

Hopefully the OS has been improved. Even then, any modifications to the CE code should be escrowed and explained fully.

I charged, in Open Court, the members of the State Board of Elections of NC with Treason. I still have a copy of the brief that I filed in court.

The charge of treason came after the State certified the 2004 election results. The reason? North Carolina's Constitution outlaws secret political societies from gaining ballot access in the State. George W. Bush and John Kerry Kohn are both members of the same secret political society Skull and Bones - which grew out of the Thule Society of Germany. The judge wouldn't even allow me to read my brief into the record and it was nothing more than a kangaroo court. I went through 3 judges in Superior Court before they finally brought in some Judge (probably a member of a secret political society) to tell me that I was guilty. I was charged with a traffic offense because I won't use an "SS" number.

Just give me back my paper ballots. If anyone saw Bush's Brain how about the scene from the White House where Karl Rove is walking around in a room filled with hundreds of young computer geeks working frantically on computers. Hmmmm.could it possibly be a phone link to ...oh I don't know...Diebolds back door access into the voting machines. 20 Vegas odds makers couldn't have been tht wrong in Ohio.

Doesn't it occur to anyone else that the only states that are working with these machines are traditionally democratic, have a huge number of electoral votes (florida, california and ohio to name 3), and have elections officials who were appointed by republican governors?

I want to know what ties these appointed officials had prior to their positions in the leections offices in these states.

Sounds like you might have some setting wrong. Make sure you have your preferences set to default to source colors. Beyond that I don't know why you would have a green backgroung.

I have seen other comments about the yellow text, but I find it very easy to read. If I am not mistaken the early monochrome monitors had a yellow and black setting as it was easier to read than white on black.

I have very much wanted to make an alternate version with Dark on Light color scheme that folks can choose (and have stored in a cookie for next visit), but simply haven't had the time or resources to do so personally.

I'd welcome a volunteer who is aces with HTML, CSS and PHP if they wanted to do some Pro Bono (or near to it) work for a very good cause!

Meanwhile, what do we know about the surviving NC applicants for touch-screen or scan voting machines? I want to know if anyone has problems with them. The link to earlier discussions was interesting, but seemed incomplete. I think it is great Diebold is being eliminated from the field, but I am not at all sure the survivors can be trusted.

i was just wondering if diebold is the same name i see that makes gambling machines?
i see a direct correlation here, if we are stuck using diebold machines to vote, and they won't allow anyone to inspect how the votes are "electronically" counted, I,E study the source code, aren't we gambling when we cast our votes?
be careful out there folks, it's getting dangerous!
peace.out.rich

My friends in L.A. told me about this cool cat at Berkley, (I'm from Santa Barbara and go to school at UCSF) who tried to take on the government last year. The Bush government has already taken away our rights so this is nothing new.
Well, I thought that until I and my brothers did some real research on this guy. Holy Sh-t, this guy did the government over and he is a force to be respected.
I am spreading the word to a whole lot of people and they will spread the word too. The information we have on Fisher is cool and it really rocks. Power to the People. Maybe this guy should be in Washington D.C. helping the Dean people, the Kennedy people, the Wellstone people and my brothers all want him to help the Sharpton people.
We found out that he had two black women who ran his operation against the will of his wife and the people,(Democrats) of West Palm Beach. That is a cool thing to do.
He fought for our rights last year and we also found out that he worked as a protester in 1966 and 1967 in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia for Martin Luther King Jr. This was verified by some friends who have a close and quiet contact with the late Ron Brown's family.
For more information join 2004_Presidential_Election@yahoogroups.com and then read message # 26041,26048,26058,26067,26071,26082
I also sent this information to the DNC to see if they will act on this information or if they are really what our worst fears could be, cowards to the American Democratic Voter. I pray they are not.
The information below is on what Mr. Fisher did for the voters and his support and plans he had for us. I wouldn't blame him for not ever running again for public office but it would be nice to see him working for the party promoting Progressive issues and defending our voting rights.
E-mail Congresswoman Maxine Waters at mike.murase@mail.house.gov
Her phone # is (323) 757-8900
E-mail Congressman John Conyers at jerry.omalley@mail.house.gov or karen.morgan@mail.house.gov
His phone # is (313) 961-5670 or (734) 285-5624
Tell them that there is a lot of information that is new in several Yahoo Web groups regarding Jeff Fisher and information that he was not able to reveal to the Committee last December.
The following is some information that has been uncovered that reveals Mr. Fisher’s character
I am writing this letter to everyone who has been helping me or following this battle for justice regarding our voting rights being violated. Today is 11/24/04 and I have been informed that the information that Bev Harris had regarding Volusia County and the information I had was not strong enough to stop the certification of the vote in the state of Florida. The reason for the lack of strength is because Dr. Piotr Blass wouldn't reveal what he knew and that he had convinced the “sender” to not reveal any pertinent information. Eve Conant of Newsweek magazine received an email from the “sender” revealing some information, however Ms. Conant believes it’s not strong enough to implicate that fraud was evident. Russ Baker of The Nation spoke with the “sender” and was told that there were additional documents, however again a member of the press has decided that the information wasn’t conclusive.
Interesting link regarding Dr. Blass and telecommunications

Now for more information from Bev Harris I am posting this from her web site: I have corrected a typo and added in red some interesting other facts.
BREAKING --- MONDAY NOV 22 2004: Florida counties stonewall records requests. While some Florida counties have been attentive to the public interest and have promptly complied with our public records requests (scroll down for the Nov. 2 records request, for critical audit diagnostics), other counties have stalled, stonewalled, failed to comply in a timely manner, or outright refused to provide the records. UPDATE: Several Florida counties refused to comply with the law, by failing to provide the 8 items in the Black Box Voting Nov. 2 public records request in a timely manner.

The following counties have refused to be held accountable for the 2004 presidential election, by declining to produce basic audit documents until after all election contest periods have lapsed: Palm Beach County, Pasco County, Highlands County, Holmes County, Indian River County, Lee County, Levy County. Black Box Voting is requesting citizen audit groups to work with us to take these counties into full audit mode in December. Other counties may be added to this list.

Palm Beach and Highlands County are in Congressional District 16. This is the district that I was running to represent in the United States House of Representatives. These two counties I also had confrontations with their Supervisor of Elections, (Teresa Lepore and Joe Campbell) during early voting prior to the General Election on November 2, 2004.

I want to remind everyone to remember Watergate started with three Cubans involved with the break-in at the Democratic Nation Committee’s office in 1972 with no interests for a considerable amount of time and history showed that was only the tip of the iceberg.

If the Internet existed then justice would have been served quicker and maybe less people would have died in Vietnam because we probably would have had George McGovern as president in 1973 instead of Richard Nixon.
The Internet must keep this true story on Electronic Election Manipulation in 2004 alive. We know that the media has kept it in the circular file. The trash can. We know that they will try to debunk the proof. What they don’t know is that there is tens of thousands of people in America, Ireland, France, Germany and Israel that won’t stop telling the facts.
The good news is that I have also been told that there is enough information to open a congressional investigation into Bay Point School, Joseph Klock, Dr. Piotr Blass, Cybernet group and the infamous “sender”. This was due to the hard work and selfless efforts of several people in our nation and the countries mentioned above that decided to support the truth instead of the lies and misinformation that the Bush Administration and the media continue to broadcast. You are all heroes and we will win this war on our Constitution.
We received word today from an important member of the Democratic National Committee that they will be getting in contact with Senator Barbara Boxer to open an investigation of Election Fraud with Congressman Bob Milner.
What is disappointing is that this could have been avoided if Terry McAuliffe of the DNC had used their resources to demand that this and any other election would have a verified voting paper trail. I met Mr. McAuliffe in Dearborn, Michigan in 2003 and he told me that the people were the most important asset in the Democratic Party. I even handed him that day a rough draft of my detailed plan for a New Roadmap to Peace in the Middle East. He told me he would review it and get back to me. I called him on many occasions to never again speak with him. My plan wasn’t perfect but it had merit, I even had many members who were affiliated with the Arab American Institute looking at it and being told that it was the best thing they had read, yet they also said it needed improvement. What’s interesting is that I am a former Catholic who converted to Judaism and they still understood and accepted me because they knew that my driving goal was about justice for everyone, not just for one select group.
Where was John Kerry the past few weeks? What happened to all the faxes we sent to Cam Kerry? What happened to all the phone calls and faxes to both houses of Congress for the last two weeks? These are questions from myself, my staff and from people who are in contact with us via email and phone.
LETS KEEP ON FIGHTING FOR THE TRUTH!!!!!!!!!
An American Patriot and a proud Constitutional, Progressive, Liberal Democrat
Jeff Fisher
P. S. Constitutional means that the constitution must be obeyed. Each Amendment must be adhered too. The First, Second, Third, Fourth and so on must be obeyed. What’s interesting is that you place your hand on a bible to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and then people scream and call you names, such as being Un-American and Unpatriotic when you actually stand up and do just that.
Progressive means that I am open to ideas and solutions that don’t fit the status quo of the Democratic or Republican Party as they exist today. Robert F. Kennedy in today's definition would have been listed as a Progressive, Liberal Democrat. It means that I am an independent person who listens and tries to implement the ideas of the people as long as it doesn’t break the law.
Liberal means favoring proposals for reform, tolerant of the ideas and behaviors of others in other words to be broad-minded. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin all spoke about these virtues. I would rather stand with these men than be affiliated with the so-called “virtues” of Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Ann Coulter, John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney or George W. Bush.
I will quote one statement from George W. Bush. It’s the call that I will be leading the charge against this electronic manipulation of our basic right. The right to voice our selection of representation through the voting process that we Americans cherish.
To: President George W. Bush
My friends call me a bulldog
They are right
I am also a tiger and a lion
So I will paraphrase your famous words and let the chips fall around your administration.
“BRING EM ON”
Hurricane Charley
At approximately 5:30 p.m. on August 25th I received an interesting phone call from a newspaper reporter from Washington D.C. asking me why didn't I call a press conference regarding my recent trips to the West Coast of Florida in regards to helping the victims of Hurricane Charley. I told them that I went there on humanitarian reasons, not political. They reminded me that Mark Foley called the press when he did a flyby. I told the press that Mark Foley could do whatever he wants. He only cares about getting his face on the news. I care about the people getting attention instead. This reporter then questioned my integrity and claimed I had not been out there helping. I informed this cold and crass reporter that I would post some photos from my last trip to the area. That was Sunday, August 22nd. I also will be placing a movie online to show what kind of damage and horror the people have to endure.
People were donating goods needed due to the shelter in Punta Gorda not surviving Charley
On Saturday, August 21st, Ben Roth, Nancy LaSorsa, Pat Nash and Jeff Fisher went to the grand opening of Pooch Pines and collected over $250 dollars, Carol Porter of the Town Crier can verify this, and she spoke with us at the event. Ben and Jeff then went to Belle Glade to a candidate’s forum at the Bill Bailey Community Center and Jeff spoke to the crowd via the stage asking for assistance. We received a few more dollars. Then Ben and Jeff stopped in Loxahatchee at the Red Barn and spoke with the owner, Beck Hyslop, donated 400 pounds of dog food. I, Jeff Fisher will paste a letter that Nancy LaSorsa wrote after the photos to fill in the other details that took place on Sunday, August 25, 2004.
The kitten above has two broken legs.
Ben and I helped out thousands of people with help from Diane Smith, Nancy LaSorsa, Linda Blackwell and Pauline Newborn. The pets needed our help too. That is what being a humanitarian is all about. Our trip on Sunday was for the pets, it of course led to helping other people later in the day. We helped people wherever it looked like they had been forgotten or ignored. There are no lines to caring when the human spirit is involved. The spirit incorporates all living things.
I am the Webmaster for my political site. This is a true grassroots movement that has proven victory can be attained without accepting money from corporate entities like my opponent is so famous for. I would rather accept the honest donation from the workingman and put it to work than become a slave to some corporation.
Date: Sun Aug 22, 2004 10:50 pm
Subject: Hurricane Charley Disaster Relief Trip

As you know, Jeff Fisher, Ben Roth and I went to Englewood, Florida today, about 1/2 hour drive from Punta Gorda on the west coast, which was ravaged by Hurricane Charley.
I have some pictures up taken at the humane society and a couple of the boat yard that was destroyed. We took mostly video. You can check the Photos Section on the DFPBC Yahoo Group List for the photos under the Humane Society album.
Jill Butler volunteered to come along, however, we didn't want her driving alone, and my car had absolutely no more room because Jeff Fisher got 400 lbs. of dog food donated from Red Barn in Loxahatchee. The food together with dog crates, bedding, towels, toys and leashes, etc. totally filled up my car. Thanks Jill for your volunteerism. Pat Nash, thank you also. I know you really wanted to come along but for your employment commitment. And Darryn, I hope Stephanie is doing better.
We also got about $300 in monetary donations from people at my job and people who were at the opening of the Pooch Park at Okeeheelee Park in West Palm Beach, on Saturday. Jeff Fisher made the announcement that we were driving over to help out and people generously gave money to help the humane society.
You can still donate money, which is what they really need so they can buy supplies at discounted rates, by going on line to their
website www.humane.org/home.htm This is the Hurricane Charley disaster web page.
We drove from West Palm early today and arrived at the humane society and met Bess, the coordinator. These people are doing a tremendous job over there. They are taking in stray dogs and cats, owner surrender pets, surrendered because the owners have no homes and don't know when, if ever, their lives will be back to normal. They also have pets needing foster care. One little kitten had two broken legs and had tiny casts on them. She looked to be about 5 weeks old. Most of the dogs have been sent to different locations to make room for the ones coming in every day. Many people and organizations have given generously in these counties, both to people and animals. The workers there are angels.
After the humane society, we drove through Charlotte County to Arcadia, an area hit hard and still without electricity. We took
video of the destruction and the organizations and churches feeding people outside and giving away food, drink and clothing. The
National Guard was there, as were volunteers, electric company trucks trying to restore power. We dropped off 30 gallons of water to the Red Cross/Catholic Charities tents. Jeff spoke with the pastor of a church hit by the hurricane, but still open to the public giving away food and clothing. Volunteers were there barbecuing and they even had a little store inside where people could pick up needed items - all free of course. We went through so many counties, I'm sure I'll get them mixed up. I know it was 8 counties.
We drove through DeSoto County where we saw trailer parks completely destroyed. We have a taped interview with a couple talking to Jeff, who is still living in their trailer with their generator running. They are very disappointed that no help has yet arrived where they are. I'd say 90% of the park is destroyed, and they are trying to help their neighbors as best they can. A huge tree had fallen and covered their vehicle. These people are eager to talk and are asking for help. We couldn't get a soda at the Arby's because the water is not safe to drink, so they give bottled water instead.
In our travels, we saw power lines on the ground, huge trees uprooted, huge metal poles bent in half - just very, very sad.
As you know, many of these counties are in Jeff's district. I'm sure Mark Foley hasn't even had his boots on the ground over there. The people were very happy to talk to him about what happened and what they still need and how long it's taking for help to get to them. We saw big wooden hand written signs asking where FEMA was, as well as signs spelling out the names of their insurance companies. Eerily reminiscent of Hurricane Andrew. Remember Charley hit on Friday the 13th, and today it's the 22nd! These people are desperate.
Well, the trip was overwhelming and I know I probably left out some of the events I witnessed, but if anyone is interested in helping out, please do so. Any and all help is very much appreciated by these people.
I wish more members of our DFPBC group could have volunteered for this cause. It was a long trip and a long day, but very, very worthwhile. I just wish we could do more.
Nancy
Interesting information that Jeff Fisher was fooled by being a kind and gentle person helping Dr. Piotr Blass
Petition to Governor Jeb Bush
Free Cuban/Polish/Jewish American David Lopez Blass
If you value children, then sign the Petition above. David Lopez Blass will be spending his birthday on Monday where twenty-four children are being abused verbally, physically, mentally and sexually. Growing Together has been doing this under the protection of HRS and now DCF over the past 15 years. DCF and Steve Walsh are now conducting a thorough investigation and compiling facts that will lead to their license being revoked.

David Birthday is today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
To all the Davids in this nation, I will fight and defend your rights. My opponent, Congressman Mark Foley claims he is a champion of children. It took him 121 days to call Dr. Blass and offer his help. Mark Foley is a Champion of Children NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Would you want your child, grandchild, niece, nephew or just one of your neighbors’ children who might live in the West Palm Beach area to be subjected to this kind of inhumane activity?

The Blass family wants the American people to know that there are people in political positions that do help children. Congressman Shaw (R) of Florida has been helping. Congressman Kucinich (D) of Ohio and his staff have helped. Maxwell Reade (Father of Affirmative Action) of the University of Michigan and Congressman Conyers (D) of Michigan has helped. Ken Eggleston (D) and State Representative Mary Brandenburg (D) of Palm Beach County have helped. Thank you.

David Blass's father, brothers and family are asking again the people who claim they are champions of children to help. Each of the following people has been asked for assistance and each has turned down helping an innocent child in a direct manner or through a staff member. They are:
Congressman Mark Foley, Congressman Robert Wexler, Mayor Lois Frankel, Mayor Rodney Romano, County Commissioner Burt Aaronson, State Senator Dave Aronberg.

The Blass family is asking each of them to distance themselves from Rick Bradshaw who had the audacity of not protecting Palm Beach County's children by trying to have Jeff Fisher stop the legal proceedings against Growing Together. Mr. Bradshaw has discriminated against African Americans, Arab Americans and has given support to Anti-Semitic organizations (Palm Beach Atlantic). The Blass family will forgive each of you if you help free David and dissociate yourselves from Mel Sembler, Growing Together and Rick Bradshaw. As the first step in that direction please sign our petition to Governor Bush immediately.

The Blass family and the people of Poland and Polish Americans want to thank Mr. Fisher for being the champion of children. Many people have taken notice of his heroic and humanitarian efforts for our David and the other children who are in bondage in Growing Together. Elseware on Mr. Fishers web site you will find correspondence with Dr. Michal Kleiber, Minister-Chairman of the State Committee for Scientific Research of Poland who is working with us and the U.S. Ambassador to Poland to free David who is also entitled to his full rights as a Polish American.

For more information regarding David Lopez Blass click on this link
Interesting link to research

Mr. Fisher has been listed as one of the Fabulous Five. The Fabulous Five is the top five SOE Joe Campbell and left a message on his home phone to call me. I then called Bill Faulkner and Susan Van Houton and left messages regarding the shenanigans that were going to take place on Monday. Joe Campbell never returned my call. The next morning I received a phone call from the Highlands County SOE office and I asked what was going on Monday. The women I spoke with were very angry with me for questioning their reasons for allowing a partisan group to dictate their hours of operation. I explained to her that as a Constitutional entity the SOE has a responsibility to all the voters and not just to a select portion. I informed her that I would be calling people across this nation and Florida about the unfair voting procedures that were going to take place on the 18th. She told me that I was rude and was acting only for the Democratic Party. I informed her I was acting for the voters of Florida and Highlands County and she should understand the gravity of the situation. I then told her I would contact Congressman Robert Wexler, Senator Ron Klein, Verified Voting and James Carville. I also told her that I would be orchestrating a phone barrage of concerned citizens from all reaches of the State of Florida to call in and have them change their position.
I reached out to fifty individuals in 10 counties to make those calls. For added leverage I also contacted people from Alabama, Georgia and New York State to call also. This afternoon I called to talk with Joe Campbell that went quite well. He was a bit upset about the number of phone calls he had been receiving and he was at the short end of his fuse. He calmed down and we came to an understanding that to ensure fairness the Highlands County office must maintain consistency in its time of operations for early voting. The hours are according Joe Campbell Monday thru Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. thru 5 p.m
More Voting information
Florida Election Update
The following information is provided unedited and Protected under Florida's Political Free Speech Laws
(letter to William F. Faulkner)
It started on October 12th around 9 pm I received a phone call while I was campaigning in Port St. Lucie from Diane Smith in Sebring about a voting problem that was going to start on Monday October 18th, 2004 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. After Diane filled me in with information I called Highlands County
The work of being aggressive today must be used as a model if this takes place in any county in Florida or else ware in the United States. The situation is that I believe that the GOP will want to cause problems that are underhanded and would go unnoticed because they will be targeting small rural counties. The microscope is looking at large metropolises and again forgetting about the core of American voters who live in rural communities and rural counties.
Today I with your help have won the battle of the day. The war is not over. We have to be vigilant in our actions toward ensuring our right to vote and being counted takes place on November 2, 2004.
Jeff Fisher
Constitutional Progressive Liberal Democrat
William F. Faulkner
VerifiedVoting.ORG Volunteer
Florida State Representative
If you can, help spread the word for poll watchers and exit pollers to report incidents during Florida's General Election on November 2nd.

ELECTION PROTECTION 2004 HOTLINE NUMBER:
1-866-OUR-VOTE
(1-866-687-8683
10/17/04
Dorothy J Maver
Kucinich for President
National Campaign Manager
All the best in this election Jeff...we need more people like you in Congress!
Dr. Maxwell Reade (Friend of Dr. Piotr Blass) Professor Emeritus of Mathematics University of Michigan
(Father of Affirmative Action in the United States)
When I learned that Congressman John Conyers Jr. had endorsed Jeff Fisher I became Intrigued. I researched Mr. Fisher's political past and his activism, especially Civil Rights and Affirmative Action. What I learned was that this was a man with integrity and a passion for justice. Jeff Fisher deserves to create legislation in Washington D.C. as did Robert F. Kennedy and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich
August 24, 2004
Representing Ohio's 10th Congressional District
"Jeff Fisher's hard work throughout his historic campaign has played
an important part in creating a world that works for everyone --- a
world we, as Americans can be proud and confident to pass on to
future generations. Jeff Fisher has brought to the forefront
Progressive Democracy that shows his commitment to continue the
voice, courage and platform of Dennis John Kucinich.
Jeff's fight for civil rights for Arab Americans and Women's Rights
are rational reasons to support him against Congressman Mark Foley"
Broward for Change
August 19, 2004
Broward for Change (DFA affiliate)(Broward County is not in District 16)
Formally endorses Jeff Fisher, Progressive Liberal Constitutional Democrat.
We are endorsing him for two reasons.
Mr. Fisher exposed the inaccuracy of the recent “Felons List” regarding Broward County, which had over 6000 names on it.
Jeff placed a spreadsheet on his website and posted information in 300 yahoo groups that listed the names, addresses, date of birth,
gender and party affiliation to make the list easier to locate any person who might have been categorized incorrectly.
No other candidate or agency listed this amount of information. Thanks to this effort the press was able to
reveal enough erroneous information to have Governor Jeb Bush stop this list from being used by the state’s Supervisors of Elections.
Mr. Fisher also proved to us his value as a humanitarian when he worked in Punta Gorda just 18 hours after it hit the West coast of Florida. While Congressman Mark Foley was flying overhead making a statement on television, Jeff Fisher was at Ground Zero pulling victims out of homes that were destroyed and clearing away trees with other volunteers. We also have received information that he has sent volunteers to the following counties: Highlands, Polk, Desoto, Lee, Charlotte and Hardee.
This effort is what we want from our public servants.
This is a formal request to have Jeff Fisher considered for the Deans Dozen List.
Congressman John Conyers, Jr.
August 6, 2004
U.S. House of Representatives, representing Michigan's 14th Congressional district.
Founder of the Congressional Black Caucus, Ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee
Endorsed Jeff Fisher for Congress
Congressman Barney Frank Endorsement
August 3, 2004
Representing Massachusetts 4th Congressional District
"Jeff Fisher would be a great addition to the House.
His vote on a wide range of issues is badly needed.
I'm pleased to support him.”
10/21/04
Gloria Steinem
Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, Florida
(thank you Ms. Steinem for introducing me to the audience)
I will cherish, work and keep to your words of encouragement
"Mr. Fisher, I wish you great success, Your passion is what this nation desires "

Voting Update in Palm Beach County
October 23, 2004
The time is 4:10 P.M. and the early voting polls are closed.

A woman with an armful of paperwork approached me and asked for my assistance. This woman was representing several individuals who had voted via absentee ballot. For the record the woman was a supporter of Congressman Clay Shaw and President Bush.

The woman had a request about where could she deposit the absentee ballots she had with her. She and several other people during the hour that I was there wanted to know if the large gray mailbox in front of the Supervisor of Elections office is for absentee ballots. The box is not labeled.

I told her I would ask the attorney inside because they were closed due to it being after voting hours. Little did I know that being a good and kind American would create such animosity toward me from Theresa Lepore.

I walked up to the locked glass door and saw the attorney. I got his attention by knocking on the glass. I tried to get the attorney to answer the question but trying to communicate through a glass door is not an easy task.

The attorney didn't seem to understand that I was trying to get a question answered for a voter that he was supposed to be available for. So he walked away from the entrance and less than a minute later the police officer on duty opened the door to inform me that they are closed and to leave the property. I informed the officer I just wanted to ask the attorney a question. Could he please get him to come over and help this woman?
The police officer then walked away and came back with Supervisor of Elections, Theresa Lepore. Ms Lepore tells me to get off the premises or she will call the sheriff's office. I told Ms Lepore that this woman asked for assistance and I was only trying to help her with her voting rights. Ms Lepore then said "The woman has a mouth, let her ask the question" then when I tried again she turned toward me and said, "I don't want to hear from you, Mr. Fisher. I want to hear from her." I then informed her that the woman asked me to help. Ms Lepore this time said, "Mr. Fisher, get off the premises or I will personally summon the sheriff's office". I moved away and let her help the woman. After she was finished the woman came up to me and said thank you for trying to get an answer from Teresa Lepore.

This is the third time Theresa Lepore has threatened me with the summoning of the local sheriff's office since August 30, 2004.

Just for the record- the first time was on August 30th, 2004 when she closed the voting poll two hours earlier and I happen to use my influence with verified voting, Congressman Dennis Kucinich and the local media to have her reopen the doors. The reason I was there was because I was going to vote and I knew that the polls were open to 7:00 P.M. The time I arrived was 5:30 P.M. and the police officer on duty informed me that the doors were closed at 5:00 P.M.

Just for the record, why that day? It was the first day I had to vote because I had been volunteering my time and efforts doing relief work with Ben Roth due to Hurricane Charley in Punta Gorda, Sebring, Fort Meyers and Arcadia.
The second time was on September 1, 2004 before 11:00 A.M. when Theresa Lepore was attempting to do a recount of her race that she lost to Arthur Anderson without contacting Dr. Anderson. I was at her office again challenging her authority to violate her oath of office and try to change the outcome of an election with Hurricane Frances just a day away from striking Palm Beach County.

I am formally posting a protest that Theresa Lepore has lost her objectivity toward my Congressional Race and demand that she remove herself from participating in any recount toward my Congressional Race that may take place after the General Election on November 2, 2004.
Florida Election Update October 26, 2004
The following information is provided unedited and Protected under Florida's Political Free Speech Laws

I have been instructed by the Kerry legal team that they are looking into the county policy that prohibits expressive activity on county property. The policy is that it requires a permit to do so. This policy was enacted back in 2002 however it has not been enforced until I started to hand out literature regarding voting rights, amendment issues and campaign related materials that exposed Theresa Lepore and Mark Foley's lack of cooperation regarding verified voting in Palm Beach County.
The Palm Beach sheriff's department has strict orders at the early voting poll in Palm Beach Gardens to give one warning and then if the person doesn't cease activity on the premises to arrest them. Deputy Sheriff, Bill Harrison I.D. # 3103 informed me of this yesterday. He said he is under strict orders. (For the record Officer Harrison doesn't like the directive but he has to follow orders)
I and several other individuals, including people from Martin and St. Lucie County alongside three prominent attorneys were each given the same warning on October 25, 2004. All of us left the premises as law-abiding citizens and stood outside of the driveway entrance to the parking lot. This was the closest we could participate toward the polling place. As you know the state statue states the distance as being 50 feet. Instead we were forced to be 500 feet away from the polling place before we could practice our First Amendment Rights regarding free speech. We might has well been in Mexico because we were placed at a location where few people were walking so we could present information to them.
The rules and state statues are being interpreted differently regarding early voting in Palm Beach County.
The most interesting thing is that George Bush and Theresa Lepore are always taking the constructionist interpretation of Florida's State Constitution and the United State Constitution. This time they are doing a "flip flop" or in other words "not being consistent" and taking a non-constructionist interpretation of the law.

At 4:00 P.M. on November 16, 2004, Jeff Fisher called (614) 466-2585 to speak with J. Kenneth Blackwell to only have the receptionist say that she would relay the message to him. Mr. Fisher explained to her who he was and that many
people from Ohio had emailed him asking for assistance. The request from the people was for Mr. Fisher to call Mr. Blackwell and ask him to recuse himself from being the tiebreaker concerning the discarding of provisional ballots.

Mr. Fisher was also going to relay and suggest to Mr. Blackwell that by recusing himself in favor of someone non-partisan the votes would be counted fairly. This is what the presidential candidates, David Cobb (Green Party) and Michael Badnarik (Libertarian Party) have asked Ohio's Secretary of State to ensure a fair and non-partisan recount.